Bullet Train
by Flippant Wisdom
Summary: The war is over, and Naruto has found the way to peace, but no one is left to enjoy it. Including himself. Dying and unable to give up, Naruto does the only thing he can: give the last living member of Team 7 a second chance. Whether Kakashi wants it or not. [Time Travel Fic ]
1. These tracks left behind

**WARNING**: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WHOLE SERIES UP TO CH.643  
**Disclaimer**: Cover image belongs to とり | Pixiv ID 411393. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.  
**Summary**: The war is over, and Naruto has found the way to peace, but no one is left to enjoy it. Including himself. Dying and unable to give up, Naruto does the only thing he can: give the last living member of Team 7 a second chance. Whether Kakashi want's it or not. [Time Travel Fic (with a twist?)]  
**Author's Note**: This was born out of a desire to see a time travel fic where Tobi is Obito and not Madara, and the goal is stop Obito from going insane (not just dying) and exploring the long reaching consequences of it not happening. I will warn you: Kakashi and Obito will not immediately become friends (it would be unnatural for them to at this point), some things will still happen while others will not, and I'm not afraid to mix anime canon with manga canon. This fic will not focus on romantic relationships, although there will be some in here. If there will be any pairings besides the established ones, I don't know when they will appear nor who will be in them. (All other notes at the end of the fic.)

Dedicated to 4himkjv1513 (**crimsonsiren23**), who encouraged me to write this, listened to my questions, and gave me advice.

* * *

That day had finally come: the one he had been secretly dreading since the moment he uttered the words, "You pass!"

Hatake Kakashi made his way to the hastily cleared area that had by some unspoken agreement been cleared for the injured. They didn't have time to raise a tent; didn't have time to save the majority of the people being brought in. They were dying faster than they could be healed. There simply wasn't the chakra left to save everyone.

It was a sight he had seen before, known he'd see again. He had only hoped he would never see one of _them_ here.

Uzumaki Naruto lay off to the side, a respectful, almost privacy the gathered Alliance medic had given him. This was, after all, the savior of their world. The tragedy was that it would ultimately be at the cost of his own life. Naruto's injuries were beyond their abilities to heal. But all rights, he should have been dead several times over, but the very longevity that gave him so much life was now only prolonging his suffering.

As he approached, a head of long, dark hair rose, and Kakashi recognized the Hyuuga girl, Hinata. The girl had been with Naruto since the end of the war, he own exhaustion and injuries ignored in the face of what was to come. Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if she planned to remain there until the Uzumaki's death.

A part of Kakashi wondered if Sakura would wake up before it was too late. Her pale, slack face had given not even the slightest hint of waking the last time he'd checked on her, and he feared she would be too late, if she woke at all.

Hinata blinked up at him, face almost surprisingly pale considering her normal reactions to the boy laying before her. She was this calm, even though she had his hand in her own. It was a pity her crush had matured to this point at such a late point in their friendship. "Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi nodded in response to her greeting, gingerly settling himself down to sit at her side. "How is he?"

He almost wished he hadn't asked, the way her whole face crumpled. Not long then.

The teen himself cracked open an eye, seeking out his sensei. Naruto smiled upon seeing him, and despite the fact that it was weak, it was still him: all warmth and light. Even at Death's door, Naruto was no one other than himself.

Kakashi's heart ached to think he would never see it again, even as he couldn't help but take comfort from it.

Naruto opened his other eye, looking up at Hinata. A knowing spark passed between them, and the teenage girl nodded. To Kakashi's slight surprise, Hinata began to rise. Was it time for final goodbyes already?

She'd barely gotten her feet under her, when Naruto squeezed her hand, rather than letting go. Startled, she paused. "Naruto-kun?"

He turned that smile on her, even as they saw the vague sadness creep in under the genuine happiness.

Kakashi wondered when she had confessed.

"Thank you, Hinata."

Naruto's words were quietly spoken, but unbroken. Whatever it had cost him, he didn't let it show.

Hinata froze for a moment in indecision. She bit her lip, and it seemed she would leave it at that. Instead, she took a deep breath to steel herself, before leaning over to press a light kiss to Naruto's forehead.

Despite his grogginess, Naruto still found the sense to blush and stare at her in surprise. Kakashi was silently amused that she had done it. He hoped it would help with any regrets.

Hinata, bracing herself with an entirely different kind of courage, placed Naruto's hand on his chest and rose to her feet. With a nod in Kakashi's direction, she left.

A silence fell, broken only by Naruto's soft, wet breathing. Part of Kakashi didn't want to do this again, to sit by as another teammate far too young died, but he ruthlessly squashed it down into the pit of his heart. He had failed at every turn leading up to this moment. If Naruto still wanted his company at the end of his life, it was the least he could do for him.

"Are you alright, sensei?"

Kakashi stared down at him, a million responses going through his mind before he noticed the way Naruto's eyes were lingering on the bandages visible through his flak jacket. The older of the two smiled, more for show then genuine as he tried to give off an air of unconcern. "It's nothing to worry about. None of them were severe." He didn't say how Obito running him through had nicked an artery and by the time he'd returned, he'd been dangerously close to bleeding out.

Naruto closed his eyes, content with the knowledge, and they fell into a brief lull again; Kakashi with nothing he could say and Naruto gathering his strength to say whatever their final words would be.

"Do you think the world will really head towards peace, sensei?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, a little surprised by the philosophical nature of the question. Even knowing about the search the teenager had inherited from Jiraiya and Minato, he somehow hadn't expected it.

Kakashi looked out among the people, the dead and the living, around them. Their clothing was different and they wore distinctive styles native to their respective nations, they moved around each other as if they had done so all their lives. Here, on the battle field, there were no individual nations, just the one united, shinobi alliance. These people were forever changed by the alliance, and they would take that home with them. It would be back home, however, that the real test would begin. While these people had been through life and death together, and knew who the people of the other nations really were, the people back home still had the same impressions and animosity they had before the war.

"If we remember what happened here, and can keep that resolve, it will be a step in the right direction." He peered down at Naruto to see if the blond had gotten what he was trying to say, and was pleased that at least something got through. "But we still have a ways to go."

Naruto stared off at something only he could see, uncharacteristically lost in thought. "Would we have been able to get this far without this war?"

Kakashi tilted his head at the question, a little lost at the direction this conversation was taking. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm not really one to ask."

"Is it worth it, if our precious people aren't around anymore?"

Kakashi briefly closed his eye, thinking of just how many people weren't here to see this day. It was a hole he could fall into and never claw himself back out of, if he thought about it too deeply.

"Someone's precious person is going home tomorrow, even if they aren't our own. Although, one day, they might be."

Naruto nodded, catching the reference to how to survive losing bonds. If he was soon to be one of those lost bonds, he didn't show it.

"Sensei? Would you trade this to save those precious people?"

Kakashi frowned, finding the question a little cruel in principle. He'd be willing to trade a lot of the things to save the lives of the people he'd lost over the years, but what did it matter when he couldn't? He'd learned long ago, the dead were gone for good, even with techniques like Edo Tensei being thrown into the mix.

Naruto seemed to take his silence as all the answer he needed. He turned his head to the side, eyes narrowing in on Sakura's comatose form across the clearing. "I found the path to peace, but I couldn't save my precious people to share it with." Kakashi opened his mouth, maybe to say that there was nothing saying Sakura stay like this, that she could wake up, to say nothing of the rest of Naruto's friends who were various states of just fine. They'd lost a great deal of people (over half the people the started with. Sasuke), there were people still alive, but Naruto interrupted him, "But that doesn't mean you can't."

Naruto's hand snapped out and then grabbed hold of Kakashi's wrist with more strength and speed the teen's condition should have allowed him. He held tight against Kakashi's instinctive attempt to pull free. Before the older of the two could think to seriously put effort into an escape attempt, markings unlike anything he'd ever seen spread out them, lighting up and rooting Kakashi in place.

"Naruto, what-."

Naruto's smile was disarming; that same goofy smile that reminded Kakashi of who Obito used to be all those years ago. The lack of malice in his student's actions had never did anything to abate his concerns over how very wrong they could go. "I badgered Kurama until he taught me this one." The smile turned serious and the hairs on the back of Kakashi's neck rose. "He promised this wouldn't hurt you. This is the only thing I could think to do for you."

The light intensified, gaining more attention from the people around them. One medic attempted to approach them, but hit an invisible wall. Naruto had raised a barrier. When had he even learned how to cast a barrier? Or was it the Kyuubi, Kurama, doing this?

Most importantly, if Naruto still had this kind of power, why wasn't he trying to save himself?

"Sorry I wasn't a better student, sensei. Maybe I'll be a better one the next time around."

Whatever Kakashi thought of _that_ foreboding statement was lost as whatever this technique was took hold. It felt like something had hooked itself onto his very soul and _pulled_. It was little comfort, as he began to lose consciousness, that there was not pain, at least. If Naruto was still alive, if Kakashi woke up, he'd almost be tempted to give the boy a lecture rather than any kind word of goodbye.

His last thought before the darkness swallowed him was that Naruto was still the number one unpredictable ninja and how Kakashi was sorry they'd most likely never meet again.

Waking up with a splitting headache wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, although it might have been a surprise that he had woken up to begin with. Truthfully, the only surprising thing about waking up was just how soft the bed was and how peaceful the room was. Whatever Naruto's and Kurama's technique had done, it must have knocked him out long enough for the medics to him transport back to Konoha. Secretly he hoped Might Gai hadn't gotten it into his head to bring him home again. He could only handle the _Piggy Back From Hell_™ so many times in one life time.

Gingerly, Kakashi cracked open an eye, wincing as the bright morning light came in through the room's window. He wasn't in his own room, the window wasn't in the right place, but he also wasn't in a hospital room. It didn't have the right smell or look or even feel to it. In fact, there was something about the room that nagged at him as he inspected it, like it should be familiar but he couldn't quite place it...

Sitting up, he came to the realization that the room looked an awful like the bedroom of his first apartment. He'd moved into it when he'd left (fled) the house he and his father had lived after the latter took his own life, because it hurt too much to stay in that house with his father's ghost and to still keep his head. It was such a perfect replica, right down to personal effects he hadn't seen in _years_, let alone remembered before that moment, that he couldn't stop himself from raising his hands and attempting to break a genjutsu.

The room didn't change, but his voice had. Or rather, it had changed _back_. He hadn't sounded that high pitched since before he hit puberty.

Naruto's foreboding words echoed through his mind like a damnation, and slowly he looked down at his hands. The surreal aspect of the sight them (too small; not enough scars; not his, but undeniably his) was almost too much. It was with morbid fascination that he raised one of his-not-his hands to the left side of his face, almost knowing what he'd find.

His face was smooth. The scar was gone.

He was bolting for the bathroom, almost tumbling to the ground as his legs (too small; weaker) caught in the blankets. Although he was expecting it, even as his mind worked through the shock, he still almost didn't believe it. His mind wanted to rebel against the sight because it was _impossible_.

And yet, that was his face staring back at him: unscarred, too young, and undeniably his face. Almost against his will, the left eye he instinctively kept closed opened, and his training must have really been kicking in full time because it was with a kind of dull acceptance that he took in the lack of Sharingan.

He stood there for several long moments just staring at the face in the mirror, torn between the desire to give into urge to run around screaming in panic, because _time travel_, and going back to bed and waiting for this dream to be over. He forced himself to take a deep breathe, closed his eyes, and reached for that calm center that had gotten him through (just about) anything life had thrown at him. Holding onto that calm by the skin of his teeth, he took stock of his situation.

This hadn't been a genjutsu and his chakra wasn't disturbed. In fact, it felt like he had the same level he had on normal basis, which didn't make sense with the fact that he just been exhausted from fighting a war, forget the fact it was too much for a child. He set the thought aside for later inspection, wanting to explore it later. His head ached far too much for this to be a dream, and he didn't recall seeing any red moons with creepy eye techniques embedded into them, but as it was day time, it was a little hard to double check that assumption. Another thought to play with later.

So, either this was a new level of punishment Obito had constructed for him (because why else would he be aware that this might be a genjutsu if the Uchiha had cast an Eternal Tsukiyomi while no one was looking), he had lost it (because it was bound to happen sooner or later and why not relive his past failures while he was at it), or Naruto had really done it this time, the little brat.

Feeling he was in control again, at least somewhat, Kakashi navigated the apartment to where he was fairly certain he remembered keeping a calender. As he did so, he pushed down the general off signals his new-old body was sending him. If he really was in the part, he wasn't looking forward to being in the past nor was he looking forward to going through puberty (ugh, the voice cracking phase, joy) again.

Oh god, if this was real, he was a pre-teenager again with the hormones and the angst... He would almost wish this was the Eternal Tsukiyomi or that he'd lost it, rather than going through that hell a second time, but well, that would mean they'd lost or he was in a padded room somewhere and neither option was all that much more appealing.

Kakashi found his calender (not where he remembered; he'd have to re-familiarize himself with his things, just great) and had to close his eyes as his control threatened to slip. He wasn't one to cross out days, so he didn't know the _exact_ date, but the month and the year was enough. He was twelve and he was a Chuunin and it would be six months before he made Jounin; before the Kannabi Bridge mission; before Obito 'died' but didn't die, and instead fell into the hands of a lunatic. It was ten months before Rin's death and Obito's decent into madness. It was nineteen months before Obito unleashed Kurama on Konoha resulting in the Yondaime's, Kushina's, and so many other people's deaths.

Something tightened in his chest as the full weight of the task unraveled before him. Naruto had placed the weight of the_entire_ future on his shoulders, entrusting him with diverting the almost annihilation of the human race. Maybe even finding whatever Naruto had thought was the way to peace, and he didn't even want to think about attempting to do that because he was no where near delusional enough to think he was the right person to find that path.

When Kakashi pulled his head off the wall (when had he given in, just for a second, and leaned on anything?), he had resolved himself to the fact that there was little he could do at the moment but to go with the flow and gather more information. While he wasn't convinced this was real yet, it was unlikely that he was actually in a Tsukiyomi of any kind. The bight, shining sun was out, the sky was blue with a few milling clouds, and there was no black moon or red sky. That left insanity or time travel, and although he was fairly everyone was insane to a degree there was nothing he could do with that theory, so that left time travel.

Plan in mind, he set out to attempt to find an exact date. He glanced around the room, hoping against hope he'd find something to clue him in. While he wasn't surprised to find nothing, he couldn't help but feel annoyed with himself. Meticulous to a fault (at least in this case), he had never needed to write down training times or meetings or the start of his mission, he _very_ good memory allowing him to retain dates and times without the need for a written reminder.

Despite what he had lead his students and friends to believe, he never actually forgot the exact time he was supposed to meet them.

He vaguely pondered what the Yondaime (he'd have to remember it was just Minato-sensei or sensei now) and the other two would think if they had seen the person he'd become. It wasn't the first time he had wondered it, but it was the first time it had been a very real possibility.

Well, he wasn't going to find any answers here and he'd never been one to avoid unpleasantries. If he wanted to know his full situation, he'd have to venture outside and gather intelligence. It would also be a nice excuse to get used to his new-old body.

Resolve as firm as it would ever be, Kakashi too to the task of freshening up and getting dressed. In a way, it felt like dressing for a familiar part he hadn't played in a long time. Nostalgia and a warm, familial feeling washed over him at the sight of his father's unbroken tantou. He wondered if his father's soul would be back at that little camp site in the middle of the nowhere that was limbo or if the dead were unaffected by the machinations of the living. It was a philosophical question he knew the philosophers would have a field day with, if he ever asked them. He was amused over how easy it was to slip it's holder on, and slid it into place, even after all these years.

Costume in place, he left the apartment, and then took to the roofs, a neighbor was treated to the odd sight of him nearly sailing over the building instead as he overcompensated the chakra needed to propel his smaller, adolescent body as opposed to his heavier adult one. He only stumbled a little as he landed, and by the time he was making his next jump he had already found the correct mix chakra and muscle to make the journey.

The village before him, he mused from a favored vantage point he'd found still existed even eighteen years into the past, was most definitely the Hidden Leaf Village, but it wasn't just the Konoha from before Pain's attack. It was the one before Kurama's as well. Although there was a war going on, and he could feel in the underline tension in the day-to-day activities, it was bustling in a way he hadn't realized he missed.

These people did not know what it felt like to be attacked by one of their own. It was almost too easy to want to make the promise that they wouldn't this time around, if he had anything to do with it, but he had long since learned that there was never any guarantee that people would remain the same as they grew older. He could name quite a few examples, and only one of them was Obito.

"Kakashi?"

Time froze, and he was back in Obito's genjutsu in Obito's pocket dimension, fighting to keep a level head even as too many emotions barraged him at once. He fought back the urge to double check that he was awake and this was real, and was thankful for his mask, even if it covered less of his face that day.

With an almost grueling slowness, Kakashi leaned over enough to look down at the person who'd called his name.

Uchiha Obito all of twelve years old and whole in body and mind, stared up at him flabbergasted. A little voice in the back of Kakashi's mind pointed out how easy it would be to just kill the boy now, before he could fall into insanity. How many people would be still be alive if he did? Forty thousand? Fifty? All the blood shed to come would never happen, because there would be no Kyuubi attack, no hunt of the Jinchuuriki, no Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, however, the image of Naruto as he faced down Sasuke at the bridge that was supposed to be the Uchiha's grave and refused to give up on him, no matter what challenge rose in his way appeared before him as if the boy were there, frowning upon him and the thought. Kakashi was no Naruto, and Obito was no Sasuke, yet he couldn't shake the absolute knowledge that wasn't the whole fucking point of this to _save_ his precious people?

Beside Obito, the elderly woman peered up at him. It was more than likely she owned the bags the boy was carrying, and it was never that Kakashi doubted Obito was telling the truth, so much as he had always viewed it as an excuse. She squinted, more from the distance than the morning light, her eyes failing her in her old age. "Is this the Kakashi you spoke of, Obito-kun?"

The woman's seemingly innocuous question caused the dark haired teen to suddenly appear nervous, even as the boy stubbornly refused to break eye contact. Judging from the amused expression on the woman's face, she was teasing Obito, who more than likely had said some not-very-nice things about Kakashi in the past.

Kakashi debated responding with his younger self's personality. It would be less bothersome and so much smarter, especially in his vulnerable state, but... Naruto had sent him into the past to change things, hadn't he? He had done some insane and crazy things for the blond in the past, why not add another thing to the list.

Once upon a time, Uchiha Obito had changed his life for the better and the least he could do in return was finally save him.

His heart must have already made the decision his mind was slow to come to, because even as he told himself to move, he was already jumping down to land in front of the duo. Obito tensed as if expecting a fight, and the woman appeared to be nothing more than curious.

Kakashi turned his attention on the woman. He couldn't recall ever meeting her and judging from her advanced age, he wasn't surprised. Although he knew and encountered countless people in his lifetime, there were so many more that lived and died without meeting him, even here in Konoha. "Hatake Kakashi," he introduced with more politeness than he usually made the effort to show he had the capacity for. "It is nice to meet you."

The woman beamed and Obito was going a little bug eyed behind his goggles. He looked like he was torn between being openly suspicious or just plain confused.

"Kuramoto Kaori. What a polite young man you are."

To the side, and just out of Kaori's sight, Obito had turned an interesting shade of blue, as if he had choked on his own tongue. Kakashi entertained the idea of carrying on the charade (because upon further inspection of the mischievous gleam in the woman's eyes, it was a charade), before deciding to take pity on his former-current teammate. If pushed too hard, Obito might think he really was an impostor, and that was the kind of attention he didn't want.

Kaori, perhaps sensing the change in mood, gestured with the hand not braced on her cane towards what was undoubtedly her home. "If you don't mind my borrowing your teammate a little longer, I'll give him back to you. Obito-kun has always been such a nice boy to me."

The Uchiha in question was frowning and glaring, as he expected Kakashi to tell him to drop the bags right then and there and stop breaking the rules with this 'distraction.' His old self just might have done so, old woman be damned.

"Please lead the way."

The woman was pleased with the response, and began her walk home. Kakashi and Obito fell into place beside her, the latter of the two with a little hesitation and eyeing Kakashi like he'd never seen him before. He was obviously itching to ask him something, but was managing to hold it back. No doubt he'd have to play twenty questions once Kaori was safely tucked away at home.

Kaori pulled Obito back into whatever conversation they'd been holding before Obito had seen him. Kakashi kept half his attention on the conversation while taking in as much of his surroundings without openly giving away he was doing so. Most of the people out and about at this time of day were civilians shopping and complaining about the rise in prices since the beginning of the war. Although one woman came close to giving him an actual date ("My brother's birthday is the 29th, do you think we should throw him a party?"), no one actually said it. Kakashi marveled over the fact that not one single person said it in the entire hour it took to take Kaori home.

It was hardly the most challenging information gathering mission he'd ever undertaken, but it still would have been nice if it had really been that easy for once.

The teen himself was just seeing Kaori inside with her bags, the elderly woman assuring him she could handle putting the bags away since he had been so kind as to carry them home for her. She shoo'd him away, saying, "You've helped this old woman enough. Go get to where ever you're supposed to be. You're probably late as it is."

Obito scrunched up his face, most likely over the thought of the inevitable lecture to come for being late yet again. It wasn't hard to guess he was expecting the before mentioned lecture to come from Kakashi himself, if the dark looks being cast his way were any indication. Kaori paused before closing the door, her eyes oddly old and somber for what had seemed a cheerful person. "You boys look after each other. You're teammates are invaluable."

Obito nodded as if he'd known this all along (and really, he had). Kakashi wanted to tell her that he understood in the same way she more than likely did: because he'd lost them along the way. Maybe something showed in his body language - the old were always able to read the young, no matter how skilled they thought they were - because she closed the door with the air of contentment that came from a lesson well learned.

For several minutes, Obito and Kakashi merely stood there, staring at the closed door. The longer the Uchiha didn't turn on the Hatake, the more explosive Kakashi imagined it would be when he did and he wondered if he wasn't thinking of a certain blond instead.

Obito's outburst, when it did come, could hardly be explosive, but it certainly demanded his attention. The dark haired teen all but invaded his personal space by jabbing a finger at his face. "Alright, what do you want? You're not here to give me another lecture are you?"

Kakashi thought of what his younger self would say right then, if such an occurrence such this one had happened. More than likely the lecture about keeping time with something insulting thrown in there just to show the boy what he thought of him. While he could give that kind of lecture again, because if he could make the decision to kill his own student, he could certainly hurt this boy in front of him, but he knew in his heart that he just didn't want to.

So, instead, he asked, "What day is it?"

Obito paused, visibly thrown by the lack of a lecture. "March 21st."

Kakashi did the math. Little under six months to change Obito's fate. The date itself didn't tell him what they were supposed to be doing today, so he asked in the same monotone of the first question, "And what is today?"

That annoyed pout Obito had worn almost 95% of the time he had been around Kakashi, since Kakashi's throw away insult about Obito's tardiness the day they met at the academy, was back. "We're supposed to be training today. Sensei had a free day and wanted to train with us." A brief flash of guilt crossed his face at wasting their sensei's time, but he covered it up with pointing accusingly at Kakashi. "I know why I was late, but what were you doing? I thought you'd drop dead before breaking your precious rules."

Kakashi tried to picture what Obito would do if Kakashi told him he was trying to get his barrings after his student with a too big heart had sent him eighteen years into the past. More than likely jump on the 'Kakashi's lost it' bandwagon right along with him, especially if he thought Kakashi somehow meant it as a joke.

"I came to make sure you didn't get lost," he settled on.

Obito wasn't sure what to do with that statement. He obviously thought Kakashi was lying, and he was right, but the teen didn't appear to have a better explanation. Finally, simply shook his head, clearly not wanting to deal with him. Muttering something that sounded like not needing a baby sitter, the dark haired teen took to the roof tops and then took off in the direction of the training grounds. If he noticed that Kakashi let him take the lead, he probably just brushed it off as the silver haired not-teen making sure he didn't get lost or something.

Kakashi followed on autopilot, taking the time to allow himself to prepare for the 'reunion' to come with _those two_. He hadn't seen Rin, the real Rin, in almost eighteen years and he had completely missed the reunion with the Edo Tensei resurrected Yondaime during the last few days. it was one thing he'd regretted, even as he knew he feared it.

He also pondered how best to go about befriending Obito and getting them ready for the Kannabi Bridge mission. He'd also need to gradually introduce his real personality. Long term undercover missions took their toll after a while. He had the training and the skills to do it if he needed to, but it would raise a ton of questions when he inevitably fell out of character a year into the future, because he was going to do _everything_ he could to keep Obito with them and Rin alive. It would be a project to work on in the days to come while trying not to actually go insane from the wait.

As the training grounds came into view, Kakashi pulled himself from his thoughts. He was going to need all of his wits if he wanted to survive this next encounter, and his nerves were already frayed from the trails of the last few days as it was.

Although nothing in the air held a hint of malice, Kakashi couldn't shake the feeling he was head off to meet his judgement day.

-tbc

NEXT: Kakashi meets up with Rin and Minato and wasn't prepared in the least.

Author's notes:  
On the timeline: Kishimoto broke my brain between ch.599 and the original ages. The guide book said Kakashi and Obito were both 13 when Obito died. I don't know if Obito is older or younger than Kakashi (it could easily be either), but I wrote the story under the assumption that Obito was older. There is no date for Rin's death (Oct 10 was a translation typo, I've read the original and it was "Minato and Kushina," not "Rin and Kushina." I'll admit it was very tempting to leave it, but I had no realistic way to pull it off), so I made a general assumption based off the length of Obito's hair from "death" to the trip down La La Lane.

And I hope that made sense to someone, because, again. Brain breakage. OTL

On the use of Japanese: I will not go hog wild with the Japanese, so everyone can breathe there. BUT... I will be using some. Honorifics are important to the social structure of the Japanese language and it does play a part in the Naruto series, even if Naruto himself tends to take some liberties with them. Heh. All techniques will also remain in Japanese, as I'm too lazy to look up all the official English translations. Other than that, I believe 'maa' will be the only randomish Japanese word I ever use, as there's no real translation for it. :| Sorry about that.

The story title and chapter title are from the song "Bullet Train (feat. Joni Fatora)" by Stephen Swartz. If I can get away with it, most, if not all, chapter titles will be lyrics from this song. Maybe one or two breaks. I kind of like the idea of a title called "these bruises make for better conversation."


	2. And space is undefined

**Author's Note**: This chapter got a little emotional (at least IMO), and more than likely a little repetitive (sorry about that). While I wouldn't say that Kakashi is _depressed_, he most certainly doesn't think very highly of himself and carries around a shit ton of misplaced guilt (the guy called himself trash/scum and thinks Team 7 falling about was his fault. I mean, seriously). That takes time to get over, especially with it having almost twenty years to fester and compound, and I can't make that just insta!vanish just because he has a second chance. My defense is that Kakashi is a little raw at the moment, and should be better-ish after some serious meditation. XD Hopefully it won't be as bad over the chapters to come, and this was just getting the heavy emotional stuff out of the way (at least until the next thing comes along to stir it up).

PS- Sorry for the piss poor fight scene in here. This was my first attempt at one, and hopefully I'll get better with experience. My Tae Kwon Do training didn't exactly cover throwing jutsu into it, LOL. XD

Dedicated to 4himkjv1513 (**crimsonsiren23**), who encouraged me to write this, listened to my questions, and gave me advice. Also want to give a huge shout out to everyone that read and reviewed the first chapter. I'm stunned by the turn out and how much everyone liked the first chapter. I can only hope that I can keep it up and I don't start boring everyone with this. :)

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He thought he might have an idea how he would feel. Surely, surely, after the mind, numbing shock of seeing Obito's scarred, living face behind that crumbling mask, he had some idea how to prepare himself for when saw his other team mates again.

He didn't have a clue.

The feeling was indescribable. It was happiness and guilt. It was elation and fear. It was second chances and the desire to run; run away and never get involved. It was pulling him in too many directions, and he might as well have been standing on that battlefield again, with his world turning itself upside down again.

But did that mean it was finally turning itself back right side up again? It had happened so many times, he wasn't sure which way was up and which way was down anymore.

Rin and the Yondaime- _Minato_, a little voice reminded him - were surprised to see them coming up the entrance together. Rin looked like she wanted to pinch herself, while Minato oddly looked almost pleased.

Until he noticed that Kakashi had frozen after taking several steps into the training ground (and when had that happened, because Kakashi did _not_ remember giving his feet the order to stop).

"Kakashi? Are you alright?"

A part of himself that was still the child that had never fully recovered wanted to shout: You left us. You left me, and I had no one, until I met my Anbu team and Tenzou, and then I lost them only to gain my Genin team. We didn't mesh and we fell apart because I failed them, but they came back in the end even if it was to die like every god forsaken thing I've ever cared about. If I had met you on the battle field yesterday, would you have told me I was a failure? Or would you have forgiven me?

Another part of him wished he could tell his sensei about Naruto, and the ray of sunshine the boy had become. Had Minato told Naruto he was proud of him, like his shade had during Pain's attack, during the Fourth Shinobi War? He surely had, and he wished he had thought to ask, but it was far too late to ask now.

He jerked as Minato's hand came to rest on his on the side of his face, and he hadn't even seen him move, although he knew that had nothing to do with the man's Hiraishin and everything to do with the fact that he was quite possibly losing it a little.

"He's been acting weird all day, sensei." Obito put in, as if they had actually spent all morning together instead of just the hour or so to take Kaori home.

Minato's brows creased in concern. "Maybe you should take the day off, Kakashi. It's good you're trying to help Obito, but you don't want to make yourself sick."

Obito muttered that Kakashi had hardly helped him with anything, but quickly shut up when Rin as placated him with a smile that Kakashi only remembered in his nightmares.

Kakashi resisted the almost overwhelming desire to just close his eyes and bask in their presence. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed them, until this moment, and he wanted so badly to tell them the truth, even if they hated or didn't believe him.

Instead, with an almost painstaking slowness, Kakashi took hold of his emotions as he had done countless times before and shoved them down deep where they couldn't influence him anymore. He would look at them again in the solitude of his own room tonight were it was relatively safe to do so, but right now was not the time to lose his head.

"I'm alright, sensei. I'll stop if I think I can't train anymore."

Obito's eye brows nearly hit his hairline, and even Rin and Minato looked a little surprised by the omission. Was he really that stubborn back then?

Minato withdrew his hand, and it was illogical that the spot where he'd had his hand was somehow colder than it should be because of it. The blond's expression was considering, as he studied Kakashi's face. While Kakashi's mask made him harder to read, his sensei had always had a gift for reading him.

He wasn't sure if that was still a good thing or not.

Whatever Minato saw, it was apparently enough to abate his worries enough that he didn't immediately send the adult-turned-preteen back to his apartment on a sick day. Kakashi was curious if Minato was out of practice (even if the he didn't know it) or if Kakashi was better at hiding than he'd originally believed.

"Hm, I had planned to have today be a one-on-one match, with you paired up with Obito," Behind Minato, Obito pulled a face at the idea of sparring with Kakashi, more than likely remembering how well that usually ended for him, "But why don't you be my sparring partner, Kakashi?"

Kakashi schooled his face into a bland expression, not quite his usual bored one. A part of him delighted in sparring with his sensei again, something he'd tremendously missed being able to do over the last seventeen years. It would be good practice, and he needed to relearn how to fight in this body and to deal with stronger opponents without his Sharingan.

Another part was slightly worried, because he didn't really remember what he was supposed to know and _not_ supposed to know back then, and wasn't that going to be a fun little problem? Minato was the kind of opponent one would have to be insane to hold back while fighting, but at the same time, Kakashi could hardly just suddenly start showing advanced techniques he really had no reasonable explanation for knowing. Another project to work on in his spare time.

He nodded his consent, letting the nostalgia of taking orders, even if they were only simple ones, from Minato settle in the back of his mind like a balm to the edges of a wound he often pretended wasn't there. It seemed that the feeling would be a close companion that day, and he couldn't help but take some level of enjoyment from it.

It would be easy (so, so easy) to get used to this again: a dangerous feeling when he knew just how wrong everything could go. He doubted he could survive watching these precious people die a second time, and there was no guarantee that his future knowledge would be of any help. Worst case scenario, and knowing his cursed luck, he was just as likely to get them killed sooner as he altered the time line.

Minato, after setting a timer down on a log in the middle of the clearing, directed the two groups to face each other. They were far enough away to give them some immediate room to spar, while still remain close enough to hear the other team. "The goal is simple: last person standing wins. You start with your partner, and once they're defeated, you move on to the next target. The time limit is dinner time, so I hope you had a good breakfast, because if this draws out, you'll miss lunch time."

All three paused at that, although Kakashi for a different reason than Rin and Obito. In his quest to figure out his situation, he'd completely forgotten to eat anything. While Kakashi-the-adult could easily push himself to the limits the human body could withstand and still complete a mission, Kakashi-the-pre-teenage just didn't have the hard core mission experience. It seemed this fight was getting more and more fun by the moment, he mused.

"If even one of you is still standing by end of the time limit, I'll treat you guys to dinner. And no, that's not an invitation to hold back because you want free food." The latter part was tacked on as Minato caught Obito and Rin grinning at each other with conspiring glints in their eyes. Caught or not, Rin's smile did little to hide the fact that she was silently laughing and Obito didn't even try to hid his amusement. They wouldn't deliberately hold back, but if they drew things out a bit, well, Minato had no one to blame but himself.

Minato appeared to have figured this out himself, because he sighed and shook his head at them. None of them missed the amusement behind his stern facade.

"Everyone, on my mark." The four held up the universal sign of engagement, the Seal of Confrontation, and a more serious mood fell over the group.

Minato held the suspense just long enough to leave them off guard to when, exactly he'd give the signal. They were all too skilled to lose their patience and jump their opponents prematurely, and Kakashi found it strange to miss that aspect of training with Naruto and Sakura.

"Start."

Rin and Obito immediately disappeared, taking their fight to the trees that made up the boundary of the training area. Minato and Kakashi remained in their spots, watching the other with wariness on Kakashi's part and curiousness on Minato's.

"This is unusual of you, Kakashi." Minato's head tilted, and it was hard to tell if he was amused or concerned. "Are you sure you're alright? Don't tell me you've decided to throw in with them to get a meal out of your sensei."

Kakashi had actually considered doing so. The smaller of the pair was aware of the fact that, when it came down to it, he was all that was standing between Obito and Rin and an older, more experienced fighter defending his wallet. Unfortunately for them, Kakashi-the-pre-teenager had never been able to defeat Minato, and Kakashi-the-adult was actually trying to play the part.

"You almost sound like you want to treat us, Sensei."

Minato's expression settled on fond amusement. "I'd treat you all more often, if my budget would allow me. As is, I'm afraid I have to make you work for it."

Kakashi could sense the conversation was a ruse, going along with it to allow Minato to believe he hadn't noticed that the blond was preparing a nice little surprise for him, just to get things going, right about... _there_.

The not-teen ducked the blow aimed at the back of his head that would have effectively knocked him out. As he dropped, he swept his foot out, partially with the intent of sweeping Minato but mostly with the goal being to drive the blond back.

Minato leapt over the kick, fingers reaching to brush Kakashi's back as the smaller of the two rolled out of the way and barely kept the blond from placing the rather troublesome technique formula on his back. He'd only be catching his doppelganger, as the real Kakashi had already hidden himself away, but it wouldn't do to reveal the trick too early.

His sensei more than likely already knew that it was a fake he was playing with, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

The clone, predictably, didn't last long. It had, however, done a lovely job of driving Minato to the exact spot he wanted him. The moment the future Hokage's feet touched the ground over his hiding place, Kakashi reached up and out of the earth and took hold of the blond's ankle.

"_Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu_."

The noise Minato made couldn't quite be called a yelp, but it was clear he hadn't been expecting such an attack. It was a pity, even it was expected, that he'd counter it with a Kawarimi, but the blond's expression had totally been worth it. Naruto may have inherited his father's potential for greatness, but that wasn't all he'd inherited from the man.

Forced to give up his favored hiding spot to pull off the technique, Kakashi took off for the next best hiding place: the trees. His shorter legs meant a slightly longer wait time to get there, something he almost compensated for by making it up with chakra enhanced speed. He held back, though, knowing if he seriously wanted to hold out for another seven or eight hours against an opponent of his sensei's caliber, he couldn't use up all his energy by trying to make up for strengths that weren't their anymore.

Not to mention, he was using this fight to get used to this new-old body of his. It wouldn't be any fun to allow the battle to end before it even began.

Kakashi could hear the whistle of the weapon cutting threw the air behind him. It was pure instinct to reach out and catch it. He hadn't even registered it was one of Minato's specially marked kunai before it he was tossing it as far as he could in the opposite direction he was headed in without breaking stride.

Minato had been trying to over take him by sending the kunai ahead of him and transporting to it. More than likely trying to cut him off before he could escape into the trees. Holding back or not, it wouldn't be that easy to catch him.

For the next several hours, Kakashi lead Minato on a merry game of cat and mouse, occasionally mixing up who was really the 'cat' and who had become the 'mouse.' He stuck to the tricks and traps of the kind that he'd thrown at Sakura and Naruto the last time they'd all trained together.

He paused when the realization that it had been a year since the event had happened. A whole year since his students had passed the bell test with flying colors. Between the Akatsuki, chasing after Sasuke, and preparing for and fighting a war, there just hadn't been any time for a second training match.

And now there never would be. Not with that Sakura or Naruto. If he really followed Naruto's dying wish, they'd never exist.

His students wouldn't just be dead, they would never have existed except in the depth of his memories.

He swallowed past the unexpected swell of grief that threatened to overtake him, even as he cursed himself for allowing himself to get caught up in his emotions. He was going to have to do some serious meditating in the mess of everything else he was tasked with doing, and get that under control.

It was one thing to become distracted in the safety of a training match, but he couldn't allow it to happen in an actual fight.

Ah, he was going to be so busy for a while...

He heard Minato before he saw him. When his vision suddenly filled with the yellow blur that would become his sensei's trademark, Kakashi retaliated with an experimental version of a jutsu that had been thrown at him a little too often over the last several days: a genjutsu. He actually had to make the effort, rather than relying on a Sharingan he no longer possessed to do all the work, but it was a minor problem.

Minato froze, eyes going blank as the illusion took hold. It was a simple illusion of Kushina injured and very, very far from where she was supposed to be, but it enough to give the blond pause nevertheless. Kakashi kept an eye on him as he hid himself, knowing that Minato, unlike Naruto, was much more adapt at dispelling a genjutsu.

All too soon, Minato raised his hands, and dispelled the technique with a firm, "Kai!" Kakashi took note that if he wanted to keep such a thing as part of his arsenal he'd have to train with it some more, but it was still effective as a diversion.

From his spot several feet away, a slightly pale Minato frowned, murmuring, "When did he learn to use those?"

Kakashi smirked in the privacy of his hiding place and thought about just how much his sensei didn't have a clue. He had barely scratched the surface of his arsenal, even for this game.

It was an hour before the end of their set time, when Kakashi decided he'd put up enough of a fight to give whoever was still standing between Rin and Obito a chance at winning them dinner. If it was Rin, the might actually have a chance, even. She could be slippery when she put her mind to it. And when her opponents were pulling stunts like being invisible to the senses.

Kakashi pretended he hadn't noticed the kunai embedded in the tree several paces behind him. Once Minato got behind him, which wouldn't take long at all, it wouldn't really be a matter of 'pretending to lose' anymore as opposed to 'well, shit, it's all over.'

Sure enough, seconds later, there was a kunai to his throat and Minato announcing, "You're out, Kakashi. Go rest with Obito in the clearing. You did good today." There was a smile in his voice as he added, "You didn't leave me much time to save my wallet."

An instant later, he was gone.

With Rin's skill level, it was in her best interest to simply stall their sensei for the next hour with whatever goodies she had set up in the forest (and knowing her, there would be). The rules of the game required she at least _try_ to take out any remaining opponents, but nobody would be fooled into thinking she wasn't after the real prize: dinner on Sensei.

Kakashi turned in the direction of the clearing, before taking off. It didn't take him long to return to their starting point, and sure enough, there was Obito. The Uchiha was going through a series of advanced kata that was better suited for a pair, but still possible with just a single person. The teen glanced at him as he made his way over to the logs in the center of the clearing, but didn't pause in what he was doing.

The Jounin-turned-Chuunin tried to picture what the Uchiha would have done if he had offered to play the counter role in that kata. It was almost tempting to do it, if only for shits and giggles.

Kakashi settled himself in for the short wait until the end of the game. He watched Obito, keeping a part of his attention on trying to sense where their sensei and remaining team mate might be. The dark haired teen's eyebrow twitched, giving away he knew he was being watched, and if it made him that much more determined to get the kata right, well, Kakashi wasn't going to say anything.

If he was honest with himself, something he had no qualms with being to an almost self loathing extent, he just wanted to enjoy the sight before him and forget for a few moments that anything bad had happened to his new-old team.

Off somewhere in the forest, an explosion sounded, informing them that their sensei had found one of Rin's traps. Obito paused mid-kick, closing his eyes and giving off a silent prayer that it wasn't a sign that their female team mate hadn't been caught just yet. Kakashi glanced at the timer, which informed him that there was thirty-eight minutes remaining.

More than enough time to go either way.

Taking a deep breath to recenter himself, Obito went back to the task at hand, and Kakashi had to give it to him for pulling off the next move. It was awkward without a partner, but Obito pulled it off without duress. Regardless of what Kakashi had said when he was originally this age, Obito was skilled. He wouldn't have graduated at the age of nine, war or not, if he wasn't. He just lacked the resolve to fight in a dangerous situation, which tended to negate how skilled and intelligent he was.

It would be easy to prepare him for what was to come, skill wise. Kakashi just hoped he wouldn't be making it easier for Obito to plunge the world into chaos if it all went horribly wrong.

Having Obito as a distraction or not, it wasn't long before Kakashi was wishing he had a book to keep him distracted while they waited. Inwardly, he winced at the realization that his _Icha Icha_ collection was lost to eternity. While it was possible, and even likely, that the author and one of the the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, would write the first several books in the series, it was always possible that he might not either.

He could deal with the loss of his height, apartment, and other such things (they were all things he could get back, after all), and it would have been petty to curse the blond that had gotten him into this mess for such a thing, but he almost did it anyway because, dammit, he was going to miss those books.

"Oi, are you sure you're alright?"

Kakashi blinked, the only sign he gave that he hadn't noticed that Obito was suddenly right there, in his face. "Hm?"

Obito shrugged, and Kakashi must have really have been out of it, because he hadn't noticed him finish. "You looked like someone had died, or something, there for a moment." He pulled a face. "You must be sick if you're being this expressive today."

Kakashi would be the first to admit he'd been a bastard the first time around, and that was deserved, but still. Ouch.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to think of any kind of response by the timer behind him going off.

Obito, the conversation forgotten in favor of the hope of free food, turned to the forest expectantly. Kakashi, unable to remember how this day went the first time around (he was fairly certain they'd lost), found himself watching as well, just with a lot less enthusiasm. A bush rustled off to their left, and they both turned to see the first of the group appear.

Rin stepped out of the forest, her face carefully blank. For a moment, they assumed she had lost and Obito's expression dropped. He even went so far as to give a full body sigh and was already mourning the loss of that meal he had obviously been looking forward to.

It was only when there was sound of footsteps, which gave away Minato's arrival, that her face broke out into a true expression of how she felt about the outcome of the game: it was one of victory. Minato had exited from the forest well over four meters away from Rin's position.

Rin was still standing. They'd won the meal.

Obito gave a shout of excitement, fist pumping up into the air, and Rin gave him a victory sign to go with her grin. Kakashi eyed their sensei, who was piteously eyeing his wallet.

"You lost, sensei," Kakashi stated, if only because he'd never really noticed how amusing it was when Minato got that look on his face.

The blond's expression took on a vaguely harassed quality to it at the statement, and he eyed his student as if he was trying to figure out if the light haired preteen was teasing him or not. It didn't get any better when he noticed the expectant grins coming from his other two students.

Like a man who'd resigned himself to his own execution, Minato sighed. "Alright everyone. Dinner's on me."

Obito and Rin cheered, the former quite a bit louder than the latter, and if Kakashi was smirking, well, not even he had been that heartless back then. Minato smiled at their enthusiasm, and began herding the group back towards town. Obito and Rin were thrilled to take up the lead, Minato not that far behind them.

Kakashi allowed himself to take up the rear, silently watching the three of them as they made their way back into the village.

He'd missed them so much. Missed this. It was almost overwhelming in it's intensity. He'd run away from it for years, throwing himself into Anbu to try and escape it. He had almost been desperate, at the time, not to feel it anymore.

The bonds with Team 7, and later the reunion with Tenzou and the addition of Sai to make Team Kakashi, had soothed the loss, but nothing had ever made the pain of losing his first team go away completely. Over time, the wound had simply scarred over and his mind had buried it deep to allow him to keep his sanity and to carry on being a Shinobi; to endure.

Part of him wanted to hate Naruto for this. To give him this when he knew that he could only mess this up again, because he never seemed to ever get this right, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't want it.

He wanted this second chance so much it startled him a little. In the darkest corner of his heart, he would have traded anything for this, even his Team 7. He would never have actually gone through with the trade on his own, because he could never regret meeting Naruto and Sakura and Tenzou and Sai - not even Sasuke - but the feeling had been there regardless.

And now that second chance had been forced on him, and it scared him. Scared him that he'd screw it up and he wouldn't survive it a second time.

Scared him that this could all be a delusion and none of it was real and how _easy_ it would be not to care.

Kakashi allowed the thoughts to follow him like a proverbial dark cloud as he entered the open restaurant. In his distracted state, he didn't notice his team mates had been debating which table to sit at until after he'd already sat down and they had stopped talking to stare and blink at him.

The silver haired not-teen gave the room a quick glance over, determined there was no better seat in the room (security or scenic) and then stared right back with a leveled dispassionate look as if he had done it on purpose and was only waiting for them to come to the same conclusion.

Minato did a cursory glance around the room. He seemed to have also realized the significance of the spot, if the minute shake of his head that followed was anything to go by. Fixing a placating smile on his face, he said, "Why don't we just sit here? It's as good a place as any."

Obito looked like he wanted to argue on principle, but didn't for the sheer fact that Rin was more than happy to sit anywhere, as long as they all sat and got along. The dark haired teen sighed, but seemed happy that the seating arrangement allowed him to sit next to his crush, so it wasn't all bad. Minato sat next to Kakashi, raising his hand to indicate they'd like a menu as he did so.

"Aw, man. I am starving." Obito grinned up at Minato, apparently having forgotten he was just angry. Kakashi marveled that it was possible for the dark haired teen to remind him of Naruto when he did that, but he did. It was an odd sensation, as it was usually the other way around. "Thank you so much for the treat, Sensei."

Minato's eyebrow twitched, and his smile was strained. He was obviously thinking about how much this 'treat' was going to cost him. Kakashi thought he should be glad he hadn't ever had to treat Naruto (he hoped one day he could tack on a 'yet' there). He and Iruka didn't always agree on things, but if there was one thing they did, it was that boy could eat someone out of house and home.

"You should really thank Kakashi. He detained me as long for most of the time, even if he was holding back."

Ah, so Minato had noticed. Hm, he'd have to work on that.

Obito eyed Kakashi, and it was clear he was hardly about to thank this particular team mate, grudgingly or not.

Rin on the other hand, had no qualms whatsoever with thanking people, especially Kakashi. "Thanks, Kakashi! I wouldn't have been able to hold out against Sensei for long. He almost caught me twice."

Kakashi nodded in acceptance of the thanks, even as he brushed it off. He wasn't about to admit he'd been secretly in on the plan, regardless if it was obvious or not.

Obito glanced at Rin, something sad passing behind his expression that was noticeable to everyone at the table except for the girl herself.

Kakashi watched the exchange, feeling his little 'dark cloud' blacken further. He was hardly someone worthy of such emotions, either his current self or his past self. He had never known if her sudden detachment from him, in the months in between Obito's death and her death, had been because he had fallen out of her favor or if she hadn't moved past the grief anymore than he had.

What might she have said to him, if she had lived? How close would they have been to his nightmares in the years that had followed.

"I was curious about something," Minato was saying, drawing his attention away from his thoughts and back to the present. (Or was it the past? And wasn't it odd to be confused over what tense to use in one's current situation.) He was accepting a menu and smiling his thanks, even as he continued speaking. "Where did you learn to do genjutsu? That was a very good one." There was a slight grimace behind the praise showing he thought it had been a little too good.

Obito, having taken a bite of an appetizer, proceeded to choke on it. Rin, alarmed, began to pat his back and the rest of them temporarily forgot about the question in the face of sudden peral from the most mundane of sources. When the teen could breathe again, he manage to croak out, "Kakashi can do a genjutsu? Since when?"

The silver haired preteen didn't meet any of their curious looks, keeping his mask of indifference firmly in place. Since he could hardly tell them the truth, he opted for a slightly tweaked lie. "Obito will have a Sharingan one day." He reached over and selected an appetizer of his own. "And it was always important to learn how to counter them. Learning to do them just sort of happened." He lowered his mask long enough to pop the thing in his mouth and used his full mouth as an excuse not to add anything more.

Obito had frozen at the words 'will have.' While Kakashi could remember dismissing the boasts that it would make Obito _superior_, he couldn't remember ever blatantly disagreeing that Obito would ever obtain what was his by nature. It had always been a possibility, and would have been stupid to disregard. Still, was any kind of show of faith, even a matter of fact one, so out of character?

A brief lull in conversation happened as they placed their orders, and Kakashi didn't miss the way they were all still eyeing him as if they were uncertain where the statement had come from. If they were going to react this way every time he did such a thing, he was almost tempted not to do it ever again. Still, maybe with a little building of self confidence as opposed to pride, Obito might actually fight back rather than freezing up in a Fight or Die situation like he would be prone to do at this point.

As the woman who'd taken their order walked away, Minato turned back to the silver haired preteen. "Why don't you try to teach Obito and Rin how to use it? I don't have an affinity for it, so I'm afraid I can't give them any other training besides what I taught you all to counter it."

Rin and Obito looked at each other. She raised her eyebrows at him, already on board for the suggesting. Him... not so much.

The teenage boy crossed his arms and turned away with a stubborn scowl. "I don't need to learn such a thing. When I get my Sharingan, I'll be able to do it anyway."

Minato's expression grew stern. "Obito, relying on your natural talents is fine, but only if you actually have them. There isn't anything wrong with learning alternatives until you get your Sharingan." As if to make the deal a little sweeter, he added, "It might even be the deciding factor in a battle."

Obito hung onto his stubbornness for several minutes longer, but they could see him wavering even as he did so. The teen genuinely wanted the Sharingan, not because it was a point of pride, but because he wouldn't be the Uchiha-That-Still-Didn't-Have-A-Sharingan anymore. In a clan known for it's genius, an early graduation meant nothing compared to how fast their Kekkei Genkai manifested.

While Itachi had several years to go before he'd break the record for the Youngest Sharingan User Ever, and thirteen wasn't anything to sniff at, it was still toeing 'below average' by their standards.

Kakashi privately mused that it was ironic that they'd labeled Obito a black sheep, and sneered at his inability to manifest a Sharingan, when the teen would later go on to become one of the most powerful and dangerous Uchiha since Uchiha Madara. He would even gain a Mangekyou Sharingan years before even Itachi dtd, if anyone other than Madara could find such a thing to be praised.

Obito caved with an almost painful reluctance. Minato and Rin gave him a twin look of sympathy for it, and Kakashi knew that at least their Sensei was aware of the full scope of Obito's situation.

"Fine. But if he teaches like he insults I don't want anything to do with it."

Rin elbowed him. "That's no way to ask for help, Obito!"

On this, though, Obito refused to budge, even for Rin.

Minato gave a long suffering sigh, and didn't even bother to say anything to it. Instead, he turned to Kakashi, and said, "Well? What do you say to a little tutoring?"

He could do it. He could probably do it in his sleep thanks to teaching Sakura a few years ago. Kakashi only had trouble believing that it would be this _simple_.

Here he had been worrying about how to begin pushing and training them for what was to come without bluntly doing so, and here it had just fallen into his lap like someone had gift wrapped the opportunity just for him. He'd be _stupid_ not to agree.

Popping another appetizer into his mouth to keep from having to come up with a verbal reply that may or may not have been in character, he simply nodded his agreement.

The surprise that rippled through his team mates this time had a touch of a pleased quality to it. Obito was still eyeing him suspiciously, but even he wouldn't pass up this chance.

The conversation moved on to other topics, breaking on and off as their food arrived and they dug in. Kakashi remained silent throughout the rest of the meal, only joining whatever thread of conversation they happened to be on when they pulled him directly into it. He was aware that their sensei had noticed, but Minato never actually said anything on it. Perhaps he merely thought that Kakashi's mind was still on the upcoming tutoring/training.

He wasn't all that far off. He wanted to cling to this second chance like it was the first ray of light he'd found since Shizune had come to him personally to deliver the bad news about his team's condition (_dead_, _missing_, _dying_, _uncertain_, and the words echoed through his mind, even now). Even as that little voice that had always sounded like Obito sneered that he had failed to keep his team together, again, he resolved that he would put every miserable shred of himself into this second chance, even if it wouldn't stop him from looking for the faults in this world that might prove it was all an illusion.

He'd make sure they were ready, even if he had to die doing it.

-tbc

NEXT: Kakashi does some settling in, some research, and has his first tutoring lesson.


	3. Keep moving like a bullet train

**TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS MENTIONS OF SUICIDE **(aka Rin's death, just to be on the safe side, because that's really what it was, IMO)**  
Author's Note**: I'm not very good with conversation, and that's more than likely going to start showing in droves soon. :| Also, I'm sorry about the mass of OCs in this chapter. Unfortunately, because Kishimoto never actually told us much about Obito's and Rin's respective families, I kind of had to make them up as I went. Lastly, sorry if this chapter sucks on the whole and is boring. I was suffering from writer's block throughout it and I'm the sort that kind of plows through rather than skips ahead. D:

LOL, I just noticed I haven't been writing which chapter is which within the chapter rather than just the label in the drop menu. Whoops.

Dedicated to 4himkjv1513 (**crimsonsiren23**), like last time, because this person is the best. Shout out to everyone that reviewed and has been keeping me going (even as I freak out because I still think this story sucks). You are all the best and I love you all to pieces.

* * *

Dinner lasted longer than it should have, as was prone to happen when people hadn't seen each other in a while. Although the length of time was much longer for Kakashi than for the others, it had still been several weeks for Rin, Obito, and Minato and they had a lot to catch up on. Time had simply gotten away from them, and by the time Rin was informing them she had to get home or her father would have her head, night had crept over the outside world.

"Bye, Obito! Sensei! Kakashi, don't forget to let us know when to meet you." The short haired girl waved at them even as she raced off home. Kakashi wasn't entirely certain she'd even heard her teammates' return farewells.

Obito lowered his hand from his wave before turning on Kakashi himself. "You better take this seriously. We're counting on you."

It was almost laughable, how much he didn't have to worry about that. Kakashi nodded, expression carefully bored and solemn.

Obito eyed him a moment longer, as if he was still expecting this to all be some kind of joke, and then turned to Minato. "See you next time, Sensei. Any idea when we can train again?"

Minato smiled at his enthusiasm. "You'll be the first to know, Obito. It might be a while, though."

Obito chewed on his lower lip. It had been an unspoken acknowledgement among the group that as the war dragged on seemingly forever, more and more people were being sent to the front lines. Minato was skilled and only getting better. He was saving lives and winning fights and he would be pulled away frequently from now on.

Kakashi couldn't remember there having been another training session between this one and the Kannabi Bridge Mission, but then again, his memory was a little fuzzy around the edges on the small stuff from this time period.

Minato's expression softened. "Look at it this way, the next time we train, you'll be able to show off your new genjutsu skills on me."

Obito made an "eh," while not looking convinced. The dark haired teen sighed, a little disappointed but knowing there was nothing anyone could do about it. With less fan fare than their female teammate, he gave his good nights and took off for home.

Left alone with him and nothing to distract him any more, Minato had no qualms with turning the full force of his concern on his oldest student.

"Kakashi, you know you can talk to me if anything is wrong, don't you?"

How long had it been since he'd seen such a thing as that expression pointed in his direction? It was concerned, fond, and open; the look of someone who was there to help if he needed anything. It reminded him of the looks Sakura's parents gave her the one time he'd had to take her home after a particularly taxing mission.

How cruel it was, that he got to see that expression on this man's face, but Minato's own son had only seen it twice - tops.

Kakashi raised his eyes to the night sky, seeking out the largest point of light out at this time: the moon. He wasn't sure if it was relief or disappointment when he spotted it grinning bright white back at him like the Cheshire Cat as it faded into the darkness with its secrets and partial truths.

"I know, sensei." It had been quite a few years since he had opened up to anyone. He'd have to come clean eventually, he knew, but it wouldn't be tonight. It would be fitting if it was to Minato, who was very likely the last person he had ever 'come clean' with. "The last few days have been... long."

It was baffling, looking back, that the Fourth Shinobi War had been fought and won in a mere matter of days, and yet it would have go down as the bloodiest. A mere fraction of the people they'd started with would have gone home alive.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blond tilting his head up to follow his gaze. He wouldn't see what Kakashi saw - only a hand full would at this point in the timeline - and confusion was drawing his brows together.

Kakashi lowered his head, and then raised his hand. He wanted to give the man the smile that he used to placate people, but he knew that it would only further set off warning bells. And not all of them would have been because the smile was out of character. "Good night, sensei."

Minato didn't look happy with the lack of answers, but like Obito and their sensei being stolen for missions, he knew this was another one of those things you couldn't force. "Good night, Kakashi." He paused, obviously wanting to say something more. Whatever it was, he seemed to decide against it, and merely said, "Get some rest."

His student nodded, and both of them departed.

It was strange, to head 'home' to that old apartment. His head was so full of thoughts that Kakashi very nearly went the wrong way on autopilot, his feet wanting to lead him to an apartment that was no longer his.

He considered looking it up and seeing if it was available. He could afford it on his current salary, and it was bigger than his current one, if only a little. Not to mention it was the place he'd called home since he'd left Anbu; his safe haven, and he'd been missing it since it was destroyed in Nagato's attack on Konoha.

It was, to be blunt, familiar and it would have been a very welcome sight in the midst of what was proving to be a very chaotic day.

He couldn't help but remind himself that even if that apartment was available and he did move into it, it wouldn't feel like home because two of the only three personal effects that had ever differentiated the 'place I live at' from the 'place I go home to' wouldn't be there anymore. While he now had the picture of Team Minato again (restored back to his possession courtesy of his time traveling), the picture of Team 7 and Mr. Ukki wouldn't be there.

That voice, the one that always sounded a little too much like Obito, laughed and wondered when he had gotten so attached to a _plant_ that it was considered part of what made his place 'home', but he wasn't going to deny that (on some level he almost wanted to call mushy) the plant had sentimental value. It was a gift, albeit a strange one, from one of his students and as such was irreplaceable.

Kakashi landed outside his new-old apartment and immediately realized he would have to take the time to redo the wards on the place, because the current ones were almost laughable. They were good for a Chunnin, and might have even been worthy of someone on the fast track to becoming a Jounin, but they wouldn't keep out someone with Future Kakashi's skills or anyone else of his level.

He paused inside the door and considered the pros and cons of changing the wards versus leaving them at their current level. No one had ever tried to break into his apartment in the past, if one ignored the harmless time Gai had spent stalking him trying to get him to become his rival.

On the one hand, it might raise suspicion if his level of security out measured his known level of skill. On the other, there was no possible way he could sleep comfortably in any place other than a fortress of his own making and still feel safe.

So, up the wards would go. It shouldn't matter, as long as no one came snooping. And if the Gai thing hadn't happened yet, well... knowing Gai, he'd just think Kakashi was even more of a worthy rival or something of that nature.

Saying that he would rebuild the wards and actually doing so quickly proved itself to be a challenge. He simply didn't have all the supplies he'd need to bring them back up to his standards. He'd even checked the hidden compartments through out the apartment (once he remembered where they were) to see if maybe there was at least something he could work with, but nothing turned up but some family valuables he hadn't been able to part with and a cache of weapons.

He set himself to the task of finding something to make a list on, before making his way around the apartment. The wards were lacking in the bathroom, his younger self underestimating how many different ways there were to get in threw a window of even that small of a size. Highest level was predictably on the front door and the bedroom window.

It was almost cute, how naive his past self was on how 'secure' his security was.

He finished his list and then tore the list out and stuck it in his bag for use in the morning when all the shops would be open. For now, he'd have to make do with what was available and there was at least that.

It was several hours before he was flopping down onto the bed, too worn to think about meditating that night. Both mind and body were exhausted, although for different reasons. He knew most of the problem was mental fatigue, but there was little to be done to remedy that. There was still too much work to do for the only kind of sleep that would give a shinobi the cure for that.

Plans and strategies followed him into slumber, and he didn't particularly care that he was falling asleep without even crawling under the comforter.

The next morning dawned far too early, but that was the joy of youth. It was one thing to think back and remember how much energy the young had. It was quite another to feel it himself. Kakashi shamelessly took advantage of his newly restored youth to get up at the crack of dawn even though he'd gone to bed at such a late hour.

After washing up and locking up, Kakashi set out for the first order of the day: supplies gathering. Most of the items he needed could be found at any quality shop in Konoha, but some of the higher end things, like the types of seals he wanted to put up, could only be found in one place. In fact, if he remembered correctly, that person should have already opened his shop at this point in the time line.

Sure enough, as he approached the shop in question, there was the man - almost closer to a teenager at this point, but no less sharp for it - that he was looking for.

The man glanced up as Kakashi approached. He studied the silver haired preteen as if he were trying to place where he had seen him. As he drew closer, Kakashi could see when recognition dawned in the man's dark colored eyes.

"Ah, Kakashi-kun, wasn't it?" A smile spread out across the man's face. "Did Minato-san send you out to get the new paper for him?"

Matsunari Setsuko: a Jounin who specialized in fuuinjutsu. While he wasn't of the same caliber of Jiraiya or even Minato, he was still talented in coming up with wicked traps and tricks that were just as handy and anything the two more experienced users could come up with.

He was also a good friend of the future Yondaime. Kakashi had seen them multiple times of the years he'd been a student under Minato, chatting away about seals and their uses. There were even a few rumors that he might have had a hand in the creation of the version of the Hiraishin Minato used, but he denied it every time someone asked him.

Kakashi shook his head, holding up his list of supplies. "I haven't spoken to Sensei since yesterday. I'm here for myself."

Setsuko made the universal "hm" sound, giving way his curiosity. "This is rare. I don't think I've ever seen you while you weren't on a mission for Minato-san."

Kakashi shrugged, before pulling out clean piece of paper. On it, he scribbled down what he wanted, and then handed it to a definitely curious Setsuko.

The man took the paper, peering down at it with a raised eyebrow. As he read it, the other eyebrow rose to join it's twin in his surprise. "Now _that_ would be an interesting seal."

Kakashi thought Setsuko would like this one. The man had, in the original timeline, created it and was very proud of it.

Setsuko leaned over his counter to point at Kakashi. "My only question is: what would you want with this kind of seal?"

"Security."

A blink. "Security?"

"For my apartment."

Another blink. Setsuko seemed to be thinking that through. When it occurred to him what this was about, he burst into laughter. "Oh. That is _mean_."

How funny. Naruto, one of the only people who had ever triggered it, had said so, too. Right before he'd asked where he could get the seal for his own apartment.

The man nearly doubled over the counter in his laughter, and he had to wipe a tear from his eye. "You're surprisingly alright, kid." He said once he had regained control of himself. "I thought you were a bit stuck up, but any one wanting something like this for security can't be all that bad."

Kakashi gave a 'hm' of his own and kept his dead pan expression. If his eyes were dancing with amusement, well, Setsuko wouldn't know any better.

In a considerably much better mood, Setsuko pocketed the paper and gave him a thumbs up. "I should have this ready for you by tomorrow. I'm already working on a project for someone right now, so it will have to wait until then. Sorry about the inconvenience."

Kakashi nodded his thanks, saying he would be back before closing the next day. The other seals he needed were thankfully already made up, and he was soon heading out the door.

The second order of business for the day, and the longest task on his list of things to do, was research. The first topic: The Third Great Shinobi war.

While there were some events he'd never forget, them having been burned into his mind like an almost physical scar, he admittedly didn't remember the war as intimately as he had while growing up in it. He could live to be a hundred and he'd never forget the lessons he'd learned during the war, but the actual events had faded in the almost twenty years since the end of the war.

He spent the rest of the day, and a good portion of the next re-familiarizing himself with a part of his past he'd always hoped was far, far behind him. Being re-immersed in it in a way not even seeing the face under 'Tobi's' mask had achieved was bordering on the worst kind of hell he could imagine, but he had survived it once and he could survive it again.

Nearing the end of day two, he had come up with several things that fell under the 'Important Events To Change' list.

Point A: Obito falling into Uchiha Madara's hands.

Point B: Rin dying. Rin dying at Kakashi's hand in front of Obito.

And it had been hard, coming to the realization that Obito must have seen her death. The genjutsu was far too perfect to be anything else.

There were also the stories he'd heard afterwards, that supported his conclusion. The shinobi that had found him would whisper to themselves of a lake of blood and how the very forest itself had seemed to reach out and attack the ninja of Kirigakure. The trees had literally _wrapped themselves around the enemy_, and had to be cut piece-by-piece to get to the bodies.

And yet, with all the carnage and devastation, none of the trees had attacked him or Rin. Looking back, Kakashi wondered, not for the first time since coming to his conclusion, why Obito had spared him. While the Kiri nin had indeed done their own terrible things to Rin, they weren't the reason she was dead.

He knew, now, that it wasn't really his fault either, but it did little to sway over seventeen years of bottled up guilt and grief. He had failed her when she needed him most, and she had carried her burden alone with her into death.

A part of him couldn't help but wonder, was he - were he and Minato - so unreliable, that she felt they couldn't deal with the problem together? That the only solution had been death?

He would do everything in his power to prevent both events. Stop Points A and B and he wouldn't have to resort to killing Obito to stop Point C.

Point C, which was: The Masked Man, aka Uchiha Obito, unleashing Kurama on Konoha, resulting in the deaths of the Yondaime, Kushina, and countless other Shinobi's.

There were other points on the list: if he somehow massively screwed up and couldn't stop points A thru c, then at least he would make sure that Naruto did not grow up alone against the hatred of the village. There was the issue of Itachi and the Uchiha Massacre and Sasuke's decent into darkness. There was the Akatsuki and Nagato's decent into insanity and warning Jiraiya. Not to mention the entirety of the problem that was Orochimaru.

Finding and eliminating Madara was on there as well. The only problem with that one was that there was little chance of finding him, short of allowing Obito to be caught in the cave in, and needless to say he really, _really_ didn't want that to happen.

Kakashi leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It was almost daunting, how much had gone wrong over the years.

He glanced at the time. It was getting close to the time he'd need to pick up the seals from Setsuko if he was going to get them at all tonight, and he was looking forward to putting the last of his security in place. It wasn't that he hadn't slept well the last two nights, it was just that the place was unfamiliar and had him on edge and he doubted he'd actually dropped off into any kind of deep sleep.

Maybe with something familiar back in his life he'd finally be able to get some rest.

He put the scrolls up, and then left the archive. Dusk was starting to fall, and the sun was barely visible on the horizon. He'd spent longer than he'd intended on his little trip down War Memory Lane, but he'd wanted to be sure he was thorough. He had a much better grasp of where he was in the grand scheme of things and it had allowed him to start laying plans.

It was a short walk from the archives to the Setsuko's shop. Kakashi entered the shop, and while it was hardly surprising to see Setsuko had company, this particular person was a bit an inconvenience.

"Ah, Kakashi!" Minato smiled as he caught sight of him. "Setsuko-san was just telling me about this seal you gave him to work on." The blond held up the paper with the finished result on it. "I didn't know you had an interest in seals."

Kakashi didn't, not especially, but with Minato as his sensei and Naruto and Sasuke as his students and the kind of trouble the the latter two had gotten themselves into, he kind of had to take a crash course in them over the years. And he still wasn't very good at creating them, but he liked to think he had a good grasp on how this or that worked and what was or wasn't normal. There was no way, however, he'd ever have come up with the one he'd asked Setsuko for on his own.

He shrugged, and went for the generic response. "I've read about them here and there."

His sensei didn't look deterred by the lack of enthusiasm. "If you're free for dinner after I get back from my mission, I'd love to talk to you about a new seal I'm working on." Minato looked a little sheepish. "I think Kushina is getting a tired of my ramblings."

Kakashi almost said no. Not just because of his lack of interest, but because he was vaguely concerned that if anyone could see he wasn't entirely 'himself' anymore, it would be Minato.

At the same time... he shamelessly wanted to spend more time with this team every chance he got.

"Okay."

Minato blinked, a little startled. He gave off the impression he hadn't expected his student to agree. It was worth it to see the way his face lit up.

From the back of the store, Setsuko emerged, obviously curious about the voices he couldn't have missed even from back there. "Oh! You made it," he greeted. "I was almost ready to start packing up for the day."

Kakashi nodded in response. "It looks good."

Setsuko snorted, snatching the paper out of a bemused Minato's hand. "Kid, this thing is gold. I'm tempted to ask if I can mass market these things. They'd sell like hot cakes."

It was a little early in the time line for the things to show up in Setsuko's shop, but since they were his to begin with... "I don't mind. Do what you want with them."

The brown haired man turned to the blond on the other side of the counter and grinned like he'd just won the lottery. "You've raised a good kid there, Minato-san. Don't let anyone tell you other wise."

Minato laughed, a little embarrassed with the praise.

Setsuko held out the seal for Kakashi to take. "Since you're letting me sell these things, I'll only charge you for the paper. Let me know if you want any royalties for these things and I can work it out with you."

Kakashi didn't have any need for them, not to mention he wasn't about to start charging for what amounted to future knowledge. He waved off the idea. "I'll just take the deal on the seal."

The man looked like Kakashi was his new favorite person in the world.

Kakashi paid for the seal, before waving a good bye to both as he headed for the door. "Good luck on your mission, sensei."

Minato's smile was warm. "I'll let you know when I'm back." He paused, before his expression grew somewhat serious. "And Kakashi?"

The silver haired preteen paused at the door. "Yes, sensei?"

"Go easy on Obito and Rin. They'll get it if you're patient with them."

Kakashi had taught Gennin with far less experience than his teammates. Next to three students fresh out of the Academy and not a licking of real world experience those two were a god send.

It was because it was part of the act that he didn't respond, simply leaving and allowing his sensei to believe he was getting himself into something he didn't have a clue about.

That night, however, he set up a flexible lesson plan to tackle with Obito and Rin when he was finished with his research. Rin was more likely to learn genjutsu than Obito was, ironically. It was hardly impossible for an Uchiha to learn genjutsu sans their Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi had proven as much, but Obito lacked the chakra control necessary to guarantee success in the technique taking hold.

Honestly, he wouldn't even have suggested trying to teach Obito genjutsu and would have just skipped to trying to break his hesitation when it came to a real threat, but he didn't want to seem like he was favoring Rin over Obito.

It was the same selfish and a shameless reason, in hind sight, as agreeing to listen to Minato go on about a topic he had no interest in whatsoever.

For the rest of the week, Kakashi worked on his game plan in between searching for his second research topic, which was any information on time travel. While he was fairly certain he was set on the former subject, all attempts on the latter subject was a bust.

He hadn't exactly been expecting there to be information on time travel. There didn't even appear to be a forbidden jutsu stashed away some where and forgotten. If anyone other than Kurama knew how to do it, they hadn't decided to share with the rest of the world. Kakashi couldn't say he was surprised. If such a thing were available, it would be too tempting for some to resist and it would eventually lead to catastrophe. He shouldn't even be in the past, and there was no telling what would start happening when things really started to change. There was always the possibility he could make things worse.

He even tried looking into time-space jutsus, since he was already there, and came up with nothing other than some rather interesting ideas, even if most of them were beyond his chakra levels.

In the end, he gave up, at least for the time being. All he was accomplishing at this point was setting ANBU on edge, and while keeping them on their toes had it's own amusement value, they weren't really someone to mess with for real.

Feeling he was as prepared as he was ever going to get in the research and planning department, Kakashi decided to put one of his lesson plans into motion. And so it was that, mid day on an other wise lazy day, that he set out to find Obito and Rin and coordinate a training date with them.

Rin was closer, so he headed for her apartment first. She lived in an apartment several blocks south of him with her father, Nohara Takemura. The apartment block they lived in was of a higher quality than the one that Kakashi's current apartment, Rin's father having access to higher ranked missions and the skills to give him the pick of the crop.

As he arrived, Takemura looked to be just heading out. Kakashi had forgotten how large the man looked when viewed by the eyes of a young pre-teenager with another foot to grow. In his mind's eye, Kakashi could still see the man the last time he'd seen him: bloodied and exhausted as he dragged the younger man's ass out of an ambush that would have killed him had Takemura not gone in after him.

He could still see the man's eyes after Kakashi had questioned why on earth the man would help him, especially after what Kakashi had done to Takemura's daughter. There wasn't a trace of anger or blame in them, and how that could have been had been beyond Kakashi's ability to understand at the time.

"My daughter loved you, kid," he'd said after he'd regained consciousness in a hospital bed two days later. "If she chose to die at your hand, then she had her reasons. I wouldn't be able to face her if I didn't respect them. You shouldn't blame yourself as much."

It would be over a decade before Kakashi would be able to take those words to heart.

The only look in Takemura's eyes today, however, was vague concern. Kakashi interpreted it to mean the man thought he might be here to steal his daughter away for a mission. It wasn't too far off.

"Hello, Takemura-san. Is Rin home?"

Takemura grunted, before sticking his head back in the door. "Oi! Rin. One of your teammates is at the door. Send him in, or are you at a good stopping point?"

There was a response Kakashi couldn't quite hear from deep within the house. Several moments later, her answer became apparent as the preteen herself appeared at the door. Her whole demeanor brightened when she saw him. "Kakashi! Did you finally remember us?" Her tone was teasing, even as she kept a straight face.

The silver haired didn't rise to the bait. He noted Takemura taking his leave, and wished him a safe trip. It seemed to please Rin, who was ushering Kakashi inside.

"If this can wait a few minutes, I'd like to finish setting the stew."

Kakashi followed her into the kitchen, taking in the apartment as he went along. "I'm only here to coordinate a training time. Take your time." He passed a wall that looked like it was dedicated to family pictures. He didn't linger too long on just how recently in the photos' progression through the years the woman that could only be Rin's mother disappeared.

"I'm free for the rest of the afternoon." She dropped a few carrots into the stew, and then set a dial to the temperature she wanted. "Have you talked to Obito?"

Kakashi leaned against the doorway, simply content to watch her as she worked her way through the instructions. "Your house was closer."

She smiled, perhaps at the thought that he had sought her out first, even if it he would have said it was more convenient. "In that case, why don't we both go and find Obito? I'm sure he'd like that."

Maybe if it was just Rin. Kakashi wasn't so sure it would be the same with him in the picture.

She dropped the last of the ingredients into the pot and then set the top on. "This will need to sit over night before it's ready." She began cleaning up as she added, "Let me clean this up and grab my things and I'll be set."

Kakashi glanced at the stew, and then back at her. "Will it be okay unsupervised?" Wasn't it the first rule of cooking not to leave things on the stove unattended?

Rin waved him off with one hand while she turned on the sink to wash her hands with the other. "It'll be fine as long as we don't forget it." She finished washing her hands and then turned off the water. "Just remember: if you knock me out today, you're finishing the stew. It's for my father when he gets home tomorrow. He said he's looking forward to it."

He tried to picture himself finishing any kind of meal that required directions and then serving them to one of his teammate's parents. It probably wasn't such a good idea, as he would willingly admit the only kind of complicated meals he ate came from restaurants.

"I doubt it would come to that."

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

Rin left him by the door while she went to change and grab her things. Kakashi spent the time trying not to look around the room and think about how strange it was to be in this house with her just upstairs, very much alive and still on friendly terms with him. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it after so many years of living with the memory of her death.

Shortly after she left, Rin returned much more prepared for any training, if there was some. At an easy pace, they set off for Obito's house. As Kurama's attack on Konoha hadn't happened, the Uchiha's land was still spread much farther across Konoha than it would be in just a few short years to come. Kakashi didn't even think the Uchiha Compound had been constructed yet, let alone was a thought in anyone's minds.

As they began to pass by more and more dark haired individuals with equally dark colored eyes, Kakashi pushed all thoughts about each Uchiha they saw dying at the hands of a fourteen year old on the orders of their own leaders. He wondered, not for the first time in the past week, if Obito never attacked Konoha, if Minato didn't die, if it were possible to change the Uchiha Clan's fate. According to the story Obito had told Naruto, Tenzou, and himself while they were in Tetsu no Kuni, there was already a level of unrest between the village and the clan.

Could it be changed, short of blatantly warning Minato, when he took the hat, what was to come?

He shook off the thoughts as they came up on the house Obito and his family lived in. It wasn't until he saw them, all four of them, that Kakashi remembered Obito had had an older sister. She was the first to spot them, and judging from the evil expression on her face, Obito was quickly going to regret that.

"If it isn't the infamous Bakakashi and the ever lovely Rin. Hey, little brother, your arch nemesis and girl friend's here to see you."

Obito froze over where he was helping his father fix one of the shutters on the side of the house. Slowly, with the kind of horror one only saw on the faces of people expecting to see their impending doom coming at them, he turned around to see that, yes, Kakashi and Rin were indeed there.

It was almost amusing to see the poor boy turn beet red and proceed to drop the hammer he was holding. It was less amusing and more wince worthy when said hammer dropped on said boy's foot.

Kioko cackled mercilessly at her little brother's plight even as her mother, Sachiko, scolded her for teasing her brother and their father, Ota, gripped about Obito not paying attention to what he was doing.

"Don't listen to her, she's just upset she was benched for insubordination." Sachiko glared at her daughter for her rudeness.

"Che." Kioko crossed her arms and scowled. "Was it necessary to tell _everyone_ about that?"

"If you were less worried about boys and more worried about completing your missions, I wouldn't need to, now would I?"

Rin made the effort of ignoring the family drama as she went to check on Obito. The dark haired teen gave her an embarrassed laugh, before waving her off. "Don't worry, it's nothing. Taken much worse than a hammer to the foot."

She didn't appear to be pleased with the reminder of her teammate's past injuries, but was satisfied when he was putting his weight on the foot like it was just sore instead of seriously injured.

"Did you come to collect Obito for a mission?" Ota's gruff voice was muffed as he leaned in the open window to retrieve a tool from the counter just inside the room.

Rin smiled, although the man couldn't see it. "Just training. Kakashi is going to try and teach us genjutsu."

Three out of the four Uchiha present stilled, and an almost cold silence greeted the statement. Even Kioko's smile almost had a sneer like quality to it under her usual older sibling teasing.

It wasn't until Obito's expression darkened that Rin appeared to realize she might have stepped into something he wished she hadn't. Kakashi inwardly winced, remembering Obito calling himself the 'black sheep' of the family. He would have bet money that each and every one of Obito's family had already awakened their Sharingan, and had done it much earlier than the age of thirteen.

Rin turned to Kakashi, a little lost. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he gave her a minute jerk of the head to cut her off. Now wasn't the place, he tried to convey. She could do it once they were safely away from Obito's family's judging stares.

After a long, awkward silence, Ota grunted, and went back to his work. "Go train with your team, Obito. Kioko can help me finish this."

The silence broken, Kioko was more than happy to let her father know just what she thought about that idea. He didn't particularly seem to care.

Obito was still for several agonizing moments while Rin looked like she wanted to do nothing more than pour out the apologies, before he muttered something about getting his things and disappeared into the house. Rin drifted back to Kakashi's side, very obviously upset about stepping on such a sensitive subject and causing her teammate distress.

Kakashi gave into the urge to reach up and give her shoulder a brief squeeze of assurance, before returning his hand to his side. She barely reacted to the touch, although her frown lightened ever so slightly.

Kioko eventually gave in to her father's increasingly loud demands to get herself over there and help him finish up and "If you don't want to do house work, maybe you should have thought about that when you got yourself suspended from missions."

Sachiko, apparently thinking that she wasn't being a proper host, turned to their temporary guests and asked, "Would you like something to drink before you leave? We have some fresh lemonade in."

Kakashi and Rin turned her down, Rin more politely than Kakashi and with actual words. Unfortunately this left the three with their awkward silence and it almost felt like a relief when Obito reemerged from the house.

Niether Kakashi nor Rin failed to notice when he walked right past his family with forced smile and a good bye that was a little too quickly said. They glanced at each other, and then at their teammate as he all but fled past them.

Rin gave the remaining Uchiha a quick, polite farewell, which Kakashi allowed to be for the both of them, before they took off after their distraught teammate.

Rin was the first one to catch up to him, and once they were out of ear shot, fervently apologized. "I'm so sorry, Obito. I didn't mean to-"

But Obito cut her off with a wave. He was already covering up the anger with his usual pretend arrogance. "It's alright, Rin. One day I'll have my Sharingan, and then I'll show all of them. Then it won't matter if I get this genjutsu training or not."

Kakashi found himself falling into step beside the dark haired teen, which left Obito between himself and Rin. He wondered how blind he had truly been not to see what Obito had been going through. It was a bitter taste in his mouth to think that his younger self would have ignored it even if he had.

"Being able to use the Sharingan to cast a genjutsu doesn't do you any good if your opponent isn't making eye contact with you." Kakashi kept his head facing straight ahead, but he didn't fail to notice how both of them turned to look at him in surprise. "No one would ever expect an Uchiha with an active Sharingan to cast an ordinary genjutsu."

It had certainly worked for Itachi. Seeing Naruto caught in the Uchiha's genjutsu, remembering the pain and the horror and the trauma of being trapped by the Tsukiyomi, and thinking it was being inflicted on his student had been one of the longest moments of his life. The fact that it had been just a simple genjutsu wasn't necessarily better, but he couldn't pretend he had been slightly relieved.

Obito raised an eyebrow, the concept that Kakashi might be doing this to genuinely help him seeming to occur to him for the first time since he had agreed to this. "Well, I suppose that's true." He mulled the idea over, turning it over from this new perspective. "It'll just mean I'll be even better when I do get my Sharingan!"

Rin nodded enthusiastically, and gave an encouraging, "Yep!"

Kakashi, remembering it would be breaking character if he wasn't just the slightest bit mean, put in, "_If_you can learn genjutsu, anyway." He was sure to leave out the usual malice and sneers, at least.

Obito made a face at him, but not even Kakashi's 'usual' aloft attitude was apparently going to bring him down from his high.

Kakashi couldn't help but hope that he really could, at the very least, get the hang of it.

They arrived at the reservation office, and were in luck. There was an open field, although they wouldn't have it for more than a few hours before it would be taken up by a reservation. They jotted their names down for the same time for the rest of the week, Kakashi saying that even if they did manage to get it the first day, they would need to practice to work out the kinks.

It was all too soon the trio were standing across from each other, Rin and Obito expectantly watching Kakashi as he considered how best to do this.

"We already know the basics of genjutsu." He started. "The caster attempts to take control of their opponent's senses. It's mostly good for knocking out an opponent or to convince them something is happening that isn't."

Obito put his hands on his hips. "We already know this part, get to the casting part. Sensei was able to tell us this much, and he couldn't even cast the stuff."

Rin elbowed him and Kakashi ignored him. He'd get to the casting part soon enough.

"Because genjutsu requires a higher level of chakra control, it's not very widely used." Kakashi looked at Rin, tone neutral as he singled her out. "It's like medical jutsu and requires the same level of control. You're likely to get this faster because you have better control." He turned his attention back to Obito, before the teenage boy could think Kakashi was belittling him. "But that doesn't mean you can't do it if you don't have any medical training."

Obito and Rin glanced at each other, and then turned back to Kakashi and nodded.

Kakashi inwardly took a deep breathe, prayed he was doing the right thing, and then showed them the necessary seals to initiate a genjutsu.

"It will take some practice to figure out how much chakra to use on your opponent." He made the seals, but didn't activate the technique just yet. "Genjutsu works best when your opponent doesn't know they've been ensnared."

Kakashi initiated the technique, reaching out and taking hold of Obito's senses. It was a simple suggestion to take a nap; easy to cast, but often effective. It was always better to use it on someone inexperienced, but like he'd said, surprise went a long way, too.

Obito's eyes took on a distinct blank look and the teen tittered. For a moment, it appeared as if he might give in and spend their first training session taking a nap. He jerked abruptly, catching himself before he could actually topple over. He slammed his hands together, shouting, "Kai!"

Kakashi felt the connection break with an almost physical _snap_.

Obito glared at him, the expression growing more heated as Rin did little to hid her amusement at his almost mid-afternoon nap.

The silver haired preteen stared back, unrepentant, and lowered his arms to side. "We'll go over the signs until you have them mastered, and then you can practice on me."

Both of his teammates looked surprised by his offering to play guinea pig for them, and if he wasn't mistaken, he could almost see a spark of mischief in their eyes.

He didn't tell them it was unlikely they were going to actually ensnare him in any kind of genjutsu on the first day, let alone do any damage. There really wasn't any kind of danger to his person just yet.

"Now that you're both ready, let us begin."

It was likely, even if they didn't manage to get it that day, to be an eventful training session.

-tbc

NEXT: Kakashi makes his first major change on history.


End file.
